Login | Datasets | Logout
Jump to... Home PLOT search PLANT search COMMUNITY search Simple search Manage datasets Tutorial About FAQ ------- Site map VegBranch Data dictionary ERD

stdcommconcept2145721457

View Community Concepts - Detail

Achnatherum hymenoides Herbaceous Alliance | Western Ecology Working Group of...
click to update datacart
Name: Achnatherum hymenoides Herbaceous Alliance Reference: Western Ecology Working Group of... Description: Stands of this alliance occur in two distinctively different habitats (sandy areas and shale barrens) in different geographic areas. Sandy areas include "blowouts" in the Great Plains, and in arid and semi-arid dune systems in the Chihuahuan Desert, San Luis Valley, Colorado Plateau and Great Basin. The shale barrens sites have been described from a high-elevation mountain in north-central Colorado and a lower elevation (1415 m) ridgetop in western Colorado. Substrates are sand or shale. This alliance is characterized by a sparse to moderately dense herbaceous layer that is dominated by Achnatherum hymenoides (= Oryzopsis hymenoides). Many species are associated with this grassland depending on habitat and geography. Sandy habitats may include the graminoids Redfieldia flexuosa, Muhlenbergia pungens, Hesperostipa comata (= Stipa comata), Schizachyrium scoparium, Calamovilfa gigantea, and forbs Heliotropium convolvulaceum, Polanisia dodecandra ssp. trachysperma, Polanisia jamesii, Psoralidium lanceolatum, Reverchonia arenaria, Sophora stenophylla, Wyethia scabra, Abronia angustifolia, and Senecio flaccidus var. flaccidus. In shaley sites Pleuraphis jamesii (= Hilaria jamesii), Hesperostipa comata, Pascopyrum smithii, and Eriogonum brevicaule are common. Scattered shrubs or dwarf-shrubs, such as Ericameria nauseosa (= Chrysothamnus nauseosus), Sarcobatus vermiculatus or Krascheninnikovia lanata, may be present on some stands. Diagnostic of this grassland alliance is the dominance of Achnatherum hymenoides in the herbaceous layer and that cover of Ephedra viridis will not be significant.  Accession Code: VB.CC.21457.ACHNATHERUMHYME Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
	Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization) Perspective from: 26-Nov-1997 to: 01-May-2019
	status: accepted This Community's Level: Alliance This Community's Children: [none]		Names:   Scientific: Achnatherum hymenoides Herbaceous Alliance   Translated: Indian Ricegrass Herbaceous Alliance   UID: HIGHER_CLASS_UNIT.2.125850 NatureServe Explorer   Code: A.1262